Wizard World Archives - Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources

Manga | The 72nd and final volume of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, released in Japan on Feb. 4, topped the weekly sales charts, with 874,120 volumes sold in its first week. [Crunchyroll]

Conventions | With 10 fan conventions coming to Indianapolis this year, David Lindquist takes a look at the business of comics-themed entertainment, with interviews with Wizard World CEO John Macaluso and Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture author Rob Salkowitz. [Indianapolis Star]

I don’t know much about Madison, Wisconsin, Mayor Paul Soglin, but I’m willing to bet Friday was the first time in a political career that stretches back to 1968 that he’s been photographed with Groot. Or, well, any Flora colossus from Planet X.

However, you don’t get elected mayor seven times — seven times! — without kissing a few babies and shaking a few branches … of sentient tree creatures.

Set for March 7-8 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois (longtime location of Wizard World Chicago), Fan Fest Chicago is billed as “a ‘thank you’ to loyal Wizard World fans.”

The admission price for Fan Fest Chicago will be considerably less expensive than most Wizard World conventions, at $25 for the weekend or $15 for either day. Additionally, those who have purchased VIP or four-day passes to the Aug. 20-23 Wizard World Chicago will be admitted for free to Fan Fest.

Wizard World Inc. it has acquired the 20-year-old Pittsburgh Comicon from co-founder and owner Renee George, although there apparently is some question as to what that means. A message tweeted Sunday from the Pittsburgh Comicon account stated, “the show did not sell out to Wizard. A statement will be coming from Renee regarding the situation soon.”

Conventions | It looks as if Wizard World’s convention won’t be returning to San Antonio, Texas, in 2015. A Wizard World spokesman said the company couldn’t come up with a date that fit the schedule of the city’s Henry B. Gomez Convention Center, adding, “We hope to revisit the possibility for 2016.” However, reporter Rene Guzman notes that San Antonio’s Alamo City Comic Con was a much bigger deal this year, in terms of the exhibit floor (it took up three exhibit halls of the convention center, compared to Wizards’ one) and probably attendance as well: Wizard World said its inaugural event in August drew “thousands,” and Alamo City had 73,000 attendees, almost twice as many as last year. There will be a Wizard World Austin conventionn in 2015, so anyone wanting a taste of that Wizard magic can find it a short road trip away. [San Antonio Express News]

Manga | Tadatoshi Fujimaki is bringing his manga Kuroko’s Basketball to an end. The final chapter will run in the Sept. 1 issue of Shonen Jump, followed in October by the release of the 29th and final collection. The manga isn’t licensed in North America (although the anime is), but it became famous worldwide after more than 400 threat letters were sent to venues in Japan hosting Kuroko’s Basketball events and to retailers selling the series. The perpetrator confessed to the crimes, and was sentenced last week to four and half years in prison. [Anime News Network]

Creators | Brian Truitt interviews two creators of Cloaks: actor David Henrie, who created the main character Adam, a street magician in New York who is recruited by a black-ops group, and Caleb Monroe, who wrote the comic. Says Monroe, “As a magician, Adam looks for underlying realities, those things many of us have forgotten or deceived ourselves about. Then he develops ways to slip those back into people’s lives disguised as entertainment.” The first issue is due out next week from BOOM! Studios. [USA Today]

Legal | A South Korea court has ruled an exhibition devoted to One Piece can be held as planned after it was abruptly canceled earlier this month following allegations that Eiichiro Oda’s popular pirate manga contains images that resemble the Rising Sun flag, considered a symbol of Japanese imperialism in South Korea. The company staging the One Piece show, which includes life-sized statues, rare figures and Oda’s sketches, asked the court to step in after the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul pulled the plug on the event just days before its scheduled July 12 opening. The court found that One Piece can’t be considered to “[hail] Japanese imperialism” simply because it depicts a flag reminiscent of the Rising Sun; and even if those images are of the Rising Sun flag, it’s mainly shown in a negative light. [The Asahi Shimbun]

Marvel and Wizard World have unveiled Jorge Molina‘s exclusive variant cover for the 100th Anniversary X-Men Special #1, which will be given free to VIP attendees of the Aug. 1-3 Wizard World San Antonio Comic Con.

Limited to 3,000 copies, the variant is the latest entry in a deal between Marvel and Wizard World in which a limited-edition cover will be available at each of the 16 Wizard World Comic Con events scheduled this year. Previous variants in the series featured work by Neal Adams, Greg Horn, Michael Golden, David Mack, Mike Grell, John Tyler Christopher and J.G. Jones.

Wizard World Inc. announced this morning that it will add add nine cities to its 2015 schedule, which will include new conventions in Las Vegas, Cleveland, Fort Lauderdale and Raleigh, North Carolina, bringing the total to at least 22.

Four stops that debuted with this year’s lineup — Atlanta, Louisville, Kentucky, Reno, Nevada, and San Antonio, Texas — don’t appear on the initial 2015 calendar, raising the possibility that Wizard World has decided to focus resources elsewhere. However, the press release states “additional cities (new and returning) may also be added in the coming weeks” (Atlanta is listed as “TBD” on the Wizard World website).

Twenty-two conventions marks a high for Wizard World, which just last year boasted 16, and is nearly twice the number it boasted in 2011, when it emerged as a publicly traded company following the closings of Wizard and ToyFare magazines (that figure was quickly whittled from 12 to eight).

Wizard World Inc. reported more than $5 million in convention revenues for the first three months of the year, an increase of 188 percent from the same period in 2013.

In documents filed this morning with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company attributes that growth to holding four conventions in the first quarter of 2014, versus just two last year, better marketing and advertising, and increased admission prices. Each of those events — in Portland, Oregon, New Orleans, Sacramento, California, and Louisville, Kentucky — averaged about $1.3 million in revenues, up from $896,737 in 2013.

However, gross profit in that same period decreased from 46 percent to 37 percent, which Wizard World chalks up to the cost of increased advertising for each convention. The company reported a net profit for the quarter of $692,041.

Publishing | In the wake of the ban in Saudi Arabia of the animated adaptation of The 99 comic, creator Naif Al-Mutawa writes about what he had to go through in the first place to get approval in that country for the Islamic superheroes (one of the steps was the sale of Cracked magazine at a loss so his company would be sharia-compliant to the satisfaction of an Islamic bank). He looks at what led to the fatwa, and concludes by seeking one of his own, posing questions for the clerics who issued the decree. [The National]

Publishing | As part of its five-year anniversary celebration, Multiversity Comics surveys such industry figures as Eric Stephenson, Rachel Deering, Tom Spurgeon and Gina Gagliano about the biggest changes that have taken place during that time, and where comics are headed. [Multiversity Comics]

Conventions | Ross Lincoln gathers up the threads of a story that’s been unfolding over social media for the past few days: A cosplayer expressed concern that the Facebook cosplay gallery for the inaugural Cherry City Comic Con in Salem, Oregon, featured significantly more women in costume than men. Displeased by the dismissive reply from the administrator of the Facebook page, she sent a private message asking for a refund of her convention registration fee, explaining, “I don’t think this will be a safe place for female cosplayers.” Organizer Mark Martin posted that request on his personal Facebook page with the response, “despite the no touch policy, the family friendly policy, the 3 security guards at all times, and the fact that you’re bat-shit crazy? Refunded!”

Several prominent cosplayers picked up on that, and it became a cause celebre on Twitter and Facebook for a couple of days; meanwhile, things got more complicated with sock puppets and a possibly fictitious con representative getting involved. In the end, Martin apologized; to give organizers their due, the convention includes a harassment policy in its official rules and policies. The con will take place on May 10-11. The Daily Dot has more. [The Escapist]

As the ever-growing Wizard World tour pulls into Minneapolis, Minnesota, this weekend, KARE TV shines a spotlight on the friction between the inaugural show and organizers of SpringCon, a 26-year-old annual event that’s being held two weeks later.

“We don’t have William Shatner at $199 an autograph, we don’t have the stars and that kind of thing,” Nick Postiglione of the Midwest Comic Book Association, which organizes SpringCon, tells the TV station. “We have comic book creators, writers and artists.”

Marvel and Wizard World have debuted John Tyler Christopher‘s exclusive variant cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #1, available for free to VIP attendees of the May 30-June Wizard World Atlanta.

Limited to 3,000 copies, the color version will be provided free at registration to those with VIP packages. As at previous shows, the black-and-white sketch variant will presumably be available for purchase at the Wizard World Store on the exhibition floor.

Marvel and Wizard World have revealed exclusive variant covers available to VIP attendees at Wizard World Louisville Comic Con and Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con: Michael Golden’s Daredevil #1 and David Mack’s Wolverine and The X-Men #1.

The covers are available as part of a variant program in which a limited-edition cover will be available at each of the 16 Wizard World Comic Con events scheduled this year. The Golden and Mack covers follow Miracleman #1 and Miracleman #2, by Neal Adams (available at Portland Comic Con and New Orleans Comic Con, respectively) and Wolverine #1, by Greg Horn (available at Sacramento Comic Con).